International banking case sudies -

Dubai headquartered Mashreq could become a branchless bank thanks to new automation and self-service technology, said its CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair in a speech this week to mark the bank's 50th anniversary. An announcement about a new digital only spin-off bank unit is also expected in late June after the religious festival of Ramadan. This will run alongside the longer-term aim to make the entire bank more technologically advanced and less reliant on people and manual processes in the future.

It is a common intent re increasing use of automation to reduce costs however the challenge in order to be profitable is to appeal to more than millennials and ensure ease is not at the expense of engagement.

Interesting that Mashreq will create a spin off bank much as HSBC did with First Direct in the 90's...which of the big banks in the UK will follow this strategy?